Conversations
by Roshan Channah
Summary: A series of conversations by people in Galaxy Garrison after an incident which tests the bonds formed between the Voltron paladins in space.
1. 0 James Griffin

James Griffin was reading some reports while also eating lunch when the scrape of a chair being dragged made him look up. He narrowed his eyes at the person who joined him.

"I need some information," Veronica said, straight to the point, no small talk. "I want to know what happened between Lance and the Princess. He refuses to tell me and she refuses to stop working long enough for me to ask her. Everyone else says that they don't know."

"And you think I do?" James asked.

"Well, from what Rizavi said, you and Kinkade were the first at the scene. And I'm more likely to get you to talk."

James sighed. He had expected this the moment she had sat down with him. _Well,_ he thought, _there's no harm in telling her what I saw._

"Alright. Yesterday, around 1700 hours, Ryan and I were heading back to our rooms when we heard some raised voices. You know how Keith, Allura and Acxa were meeting some defected Galra soldiers yesterday?"

Veronica nodded; Acxa had probably mentioned it to her.

"The noise was coming from the room they were using. So we headed in that direction. But when we got there all the Galra were gone. There was only Allura, Lance and Keith."

"What were they doing?"

"Well, Keith was doing nothing. As for Lance and Allura, they were fighting."

"Fighting?"

"They were arguing, yelling at each other."

"What about?"

"Um, not sure." He looked at his lunch avoiding her eyes. She seemed to be thinking about what he had just told her and thankfully didn't notice his evasion.

"Then what happened?"

"I called Pidge and informed her because they weren't listening to me and Keith wasn't doing anything to stop them."

"So they were just shouting, right? They didn't, like, throw a punch or something?

James understood what she was asking: Did either Allura or Keith try to physically attack Lance?

"Oh no, no, no. They were just shouting. Then Keith seemed to have had enough because he got mad."

Mad was an understatement. James shuddered as he remembered. He knew, intellectually, that Keith was half-Galra. He had even met his Mom for goodness' sake! But it hadn't really sunk in. Until now.

Lance had said something in Spanish that James didn't understand. Keith must have understood though and it mustn't have been pretty because Keith growled. There was no other word for the sound he made. Like a tiger or a wolf. His irises had narrowed and his face…it was feral, wild, almost bestial.

It was a good thing Shiro had got there by then, shoving himself in between the two younger men, because –and James was a little ashamed to admit this– he had frozen.

"And then Shiro arrived and he dragged Keith away and ordered the other two to go to their rooms. And that was it." James shrugged going back to his lunch.

Veronica mulled over his words, playing with her food. "I wonder what they were fighting about."

James almost choked. "No clue," he coughed, "no idea at all."

But she was looking at him now, eyes sharp. "You know something, don't you? Spill it."

"Veronica…"

"Tell me what happened or I swear to God–"

"It's really not–"

"I want to know why my little brother is acting like the woman he loves doesn't exist!"

James sighed. _It's not like I promised not to tell anyone_, he told himself.

"Okay, this is just my opinion. I didn't actually see anything, understand?"

Veronica waved her hand telling him to get on with it.

"Alright, I think Lance walked in on Keith and Allura in some sort of compromising position."

"_Compromising_…" Veronica's jaw dropped. He didn't blame her. "Are you saying that _Keith _and_ Allura_were… what, making out or something?"

James shrugged, "Basically, yeah."

He doubted they did anything too risqué, neither of them were the type. But they had to have done something distinctly romantic. Something Lance could not have misinterpreted when he saw them.

"But… That's just… I thought…" Veronica's mind seemed to have stalled.

"Come on, surely you've noticed there's some sort of tension between Keith and Allura? We've all seen it."

"Well, yeah," Veronica half-heartedly agreed, "But I always thought it was because they had a fight in space and never talked about it."

"Honestly," James mumbled, "so did I."

So did all of them.

It wasn't obvious. Keith and Allura worked together with remarkable ease. But over time they had all noticed one by one that there was some sort of friction there. Allura went out of her way to never be alone with Keith. And sometimes, not often, but sometimes, there was a softness in Keith's voice while speaking to Allura that he never possessed towards any of the others, not even Shiro.

None of them had really bothered about it because it wasn't their business and there were so many bigger things to worry about. But they had assumed from bits and pieces picked up here and there: Colleen mentioning how Pidge had told her that they had been lost in space once without food or water and somehow had only suffered space madness. Lance telling Coran that Keith had apologized for the things he said when they were lost in space. Shiro wondering out loud why Allura insisted he accompany her and Keith on their trip to the Balmera and Hunk answering that Allura is avoiding Keith 'cause she doesn't want to talk about the space madness and Keith kinda does'.

Yeah, it was not a difficult conclusion to reach. However, it appeared that it was also the wrong conclusion.

"How can you be sure?" Veronica asked suddenly, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "I mean, Keith and Allura… together, just seems… out of nowhere."

"Well, let's look at the facts shall we," James said, leaning forward. "Lance is angry at Keith. Keith is not defending himself. Allura is defending him instead." He listed the facts counting them against his fingers.

"Okay," Veronica stated.

"Now you know Lance better than me. Would you say he's not someone to get angry at small things?"

"Yeah," Veronica nodded. "He's generally an easy-going guy."

"All the paladins, including Lance, respect Keith as their leader, right?"

"Yeah?" She seemed to be wondering where he was going with this.

"So for Lance to start shouting the way I saw him doing, he must've felt that Keith had done something horrible, against him, right?"

"I suppose."

"Now, Keith doesn't defend himself. I can tell you from personal experience that Keith is not one to take things lying down. So, he must have felt that he deserved Lance's anger. Keith must have actually done something against Lance."

"Right."

"We know Keith well enough to know he wouldn't betray us to the Galra or anything like that, so that leaves us with few options as to what Keith could have done that Lance, specifically, would consider a betrayal. Are you following me so far?"

"Yes."

"Now here comes the clincher. Allura's there and she _is_ defending Keith. So she must either a) not consider what Keith did to be as bad as Lance is making it out to be OR b) she took part in whatever Keith did and doesn't like the fact that Lance is only blaming Keith."

"And now Allura is burying herself in work and pretending nothing happened and Lance is ignoring her," Veronica said with dawning comprehension.

"And Keith is avoiding everyone."

Veronica sighed, "I guess you're right."

"Yep."

"Oh," she slumped back into her chair, "What a mess."

"Yep."

A.N.

So hello guys and girls. Voltron's end broke my heart. I haven't felt this betrayed since Bleach's last chapter came out. So I wrote something. I hope you like it.

I haven't watched season 8 and most likely never will. And during season 7 I didn't pay that much attention to the earth episodes. So I'm not sure I managed to get these two in character. Please forgive me if they are not. I saw James Griffin as someone with good observation skills and high intelligence. And Veronica being an older sister was doing what I would've in such a situation. She needs to know what's wrong with her brother and she would go behind his back if it got her that information. But at the same time she is not going to coddle him or try to fix his problems for him. She trusts him. Mostly.

So there you go!


	2. 1 Keith Kogane

Keith Kogane was confused.

He had assumed when Hunk had cornered him outside the training room that he wanted answers. After all Keith had spent the last day and a half avoiding almost everyone. Yet countless stops at different stalls and a couple of longwinded rants about fresh meat and the correct way to roll out pie crust later, Keith was beginning to wonder whether Hunk had really just wanted his help with the shopping.

"Okay," Hunk said consulting his list, "Now all we need are some fresh lemons and a dozen eggs."

"Didn't we already stop at a fruit stall?"

"Oh no," Hunk declared, "That stall's only good for apples, pears and kiwi. For lemons we need to go to the one next to the milkshake place."

"Okay," Keith sighed, "let's go get lemons and eggs."

"Wait, wait, wait, we can get eggs right here and then we'll get some milkshakes after buying the lemons, my treat, alright?"

Keith's instincts prickled. Had he been right about the reason for this shopping trip after all?

He ignored it and trailed after Hunk. They picked up the eggs and lemons and strolled into the 'Milkshake place' as Hunk had called it.

"So what do you want?" Hunk asked as they dropped their bags around a table.

"I don't care. Anything except vanilla," Keith answered as he slumped into the plastic chair.

The place was not crowded but there was a healthy stream of customers, both human and alien rolling through. Keith had not really visited the market other than stopping by whenever the paladins were called in to settle skirmishes between the skittish humans and the incoming aliens. But that had slowly but surely disappeared.

Now he watched as the human fish seller opposite laughed while in conversation with the Balmeran next to him selling crystals. On the street a mix of human and alien children ran past, clearly too absorbed in their game to notice the Olkari couple they nearly barreled into. A young human pair politely helped them pick up the bag of oranges they had accidentally dropped.

Keith smiled. This was what they were fighting for. If the humans, who only a few short years ago didn't even know aliens existed, could co-exist with aliens, who included Galra, then there was nothing stopping the rest of the universe from following their example.

Keith's smile slipped off his face as he watched the young couple wave goodbye to the Olkari, their arms around each other's waist. The male must've said something funny because the female burst into laughter. The guy looked at her as she laughed, smiling down at her upturned face so tenderly, like he had never seen anything more beautiful. Like she was the most wonderful thing to have ever happened to him…

"Here you go!" Hunk's voice pulled him out of his spiral of thoughts. "I figured I couldn't go wrong with chocolate for you and raspberry and banana for me."

The next few minute were spent in silence as they both savoured their milkshakes.

"Ah," Hunk sighed, "This hits the spot. I'm getting another one, do you want anything?"

Keith shook his head. As Hunk went off to get another milkshake he found himself watching the people outside again. His eyes landed on another couple, older this time. The woman kissed her partner's cheek as she gave him another bag to hold. He theatrically sighed at the weight and then smiled as she chuckled. Keith looked away only to find himself studying another couple, two women with a horde of children. Again and again his eyes seemed to land without conscious effort on his part, on lovers.

"It's nice, isn't it?" Hunk mused, startling Keith. He hadn't realized his friend had returned. He was staring out the window as well. "I've been thinking of asking Shay out to visit the market with me. I know Allura and Coran swore off milkshakes but as long as I don't show her where they come from she might like it, right?"

"Allura doesn't like milkshakes?" That was news to him. When did she and Coran even get to drink milkshakes?

"Oh yeah no. She liked milkshakes until she found out where they come from. She and Coran freaked when Lance milked Kalternecker in front of them."

Why would Lance ever milk Kalternecker in front of them? Why would it freak them out? As far as Keith knew milking never hurt the cow. How much had he missed while with the Blades?

Even though Shiro always gave him the rundown of whatever Voltron and its Paladins were up to and the others also told him whenever they contacted him, little things, things they didn't think were important, were commonly left out. Keith was still catching up after all this time.

Keith tried to forget about it, and focus on something else. "I'm sure Shay would love to experience more of Earth, so go for it."

"You think so?" Hunk looked uncharacteristically bashful for a moment.

Keith smiled, "Yes, there's no harm in asking, right?"

"You're right."

There was another silence as Hunk started on what looked like a mango shake. It wasn't uncomfortable but Keith didn't want to watch the people outside anymore.

"So," Keith started, "What's for dinner?"

"I was going to whip up some steaks with mashed potato and beans, garlic knots and lemon meringue pie for dessert."

"Do steaks and garlic knots go together?" Keith didn't really know if they did or not, but it seemed like something Hunk would know.

"Actually they don't really. But you love steaks and I thought you needed it. So I figured I'd whip up some garlic knots so Lance would eat something."

"Why? What's wrong with Lance?"

Hunk looked at him for a moment as if he couldn't believe Keith was asking him that. "Oh nothing," he started airily, "he just caught his team leader kissing the girl of his dreams."

Keith flushed. "Right, yeah, that." He kept his eyes on his empty glass, playing with the straw until the heat in his face subsided a little. "So, um, Lance is sad right now?"

"Yeah, I guess. It's almost like he's in mourning, you know the five-stages of grief and all that. Currently he's on anger."

"He's angry. At Allura?"

"A bit but mainly at you."

"At me?" Keith exclaimed.

"Yeah, you kissed the love of his life, remember."

"That's not my fault! I didn't make Allura kiss me."

"No," Hunk agreed, "but it's just easier for him to blame you than blame her."

"Huh?"

"Look, I don't know if you knew this but Lance has had feelings for Allura for a long time."

"I knew he had a crush on her," Keith said, then mumbled under his breath, "It wasn't like he was hiding it or anything."

Hunk ignored his muttering. "For so long he has had to remain on the sidelines, she's never looked at him that way. You weren't there but he was. He was there for her even when it hurt him to see her with Lotor." Keith scowled at the mention of the Galra prince but didn't interrupt. "And now when she's finally giving him a chance, you swoop in and steal her from him without doing anything, without the slightest effort. It's like the Garrison all over again. You're better than him even though he tries so hard and you don't try at all."

"Okay, none of that makes any sense," Keith said frankly, "I didn't _steal_ her from him. She's a person, she can't be _stolen_. And what do you mean I don't try at all? I practice every spare moment I get! And I know I left you guys but I did it because I thought I could do more for the coalition with the Blades than doing the Voltron Show or whatever. So what if he was there for Allura? He wasn't the only one. All of you were there; that doesn't make him special. It doesn't mean he gets a reward for being a good friend."

"I know that," Hunk said, slowly, making sure Keith had calmed enough to listen to his words. "And I am pretty sure Lance also knows. But he can't help how he feels. And he feels like you've always been given everything he wants even though you don't really want it the way he does."

Keith sat back, suddenly understanding, "Like the Black Lion."

Hunk smiled and nodded, "And Allura."

Keith looked back at Hunk, bewildered, "Allura? But… How…She's not a thing, I mean… She's not something that can be… given."

"No?" Hunk smirked, "She kissed you, right?"

Keith felt his ears flame. "Yes," he mumbled.

"Doesn't that mean that she gave herself to you?"

"Gave herself…" Keith breathed his eyes wide as he considered this new idea.

"Did you hate it, Keith?"

"What?"

He was confused for a moment as to what Hunk meant, then he snapped, "No!"

He paused. "No," he repeated softly, "It was…nice."

Nice didn't cover it. It was exhilarating. It felt like he was taking his hover-bike over that familiar cliff. The building excitement as he sped up, the wind in his face, the swoop in his stomach as he leaped, the tightening of his fingers on the handlebars because no matter how many times he did it he would still feel that moment of fear during free fall, and then the relief and pride as he landed safe and sound.

They paid for their drinks and grabbed their bags. Hunk probably understood Keith had a lot on his mind because he didn't speak other than to remind him of the time for dinner. As he flopped onto his bunk, Keith allowed his thoughts to go back to that moment in the meeting room; the Galra had left, he had thanked Acxa for her assistance and she had left as well. It was then he had realized, he was alone in the room with Allura.

Keith wasn't sure what to say to Allura. Ask her why she was avoiding him? Congratulate her on getting the Galra to listen? Apologize for whatever he had done to make her angry at him? Question her about the Altean that was found in the wreckage?

Ultimately he decided none of that mattered. What he really wanted to do was to help her.

Ever since they returned to Earth, Allura had seemed… diminished somehow. Keith had asked Lance about it because if anyone paid too much attention to Allura it was him. But Lance had said it might just be the fact that Keith had grown bigger so everyone else seemed smaller in comparison. Keith knew that wasn't it.

Keith had always thought of Allura as strong, capable of bearing the weight of the entire universe on her shoulders, alone. But just because she could, didn't mean she had to. He wanted to help her, had always wanted to help her with whatever weight she bore.

That was all he had been trying to do, comfort her, apologize for hurting her, ease her burdens in whatever way he could.

And then one moment she was smiling up at him and the next she was moving closer. He didn't know what he thought was happening because she was so close and he couldn't move. He could see the slight shimmer of her cheek marks, the single small teardrop glimmering in her eyelashes, every speck of silver in her luminescent eyes. And then she closed her eyes and moved so close he couldn't focus on her. His eyes were open but he couldn't see anything, his heartbeat roared in his ears but he couldn't hear anything, he lost all ability to think.

It was wonderful, exciting, scary, confusing, liberating and half a dozen other emotions that he wasn't able to name, times a hundred, all of them going off like fireworks in his chest. It could've lasted for a moment or for an eternity, he couldn't tell.

And then Lance was there and he was shouting but Keith still felt like he'd been struck by lightning, like he had drunk an entire bottle of that green wine Coran kept hidden for special occasions that Hunk had once taken a sip of and gotten completely drunk on, like gravity had been switched off and he might be floating off into the stars for all he knew.

He didn't know how but suddenly the MFE pilots were also in the room and he hadn't noticed they had come in but it was so hard to focus on anything other than Allura and had she always glowed like that?

But she was shouting too. That was what finally caused him to concentrate on what was going on around him, finally tuning into the conversation.

He didn't remember what Lance had been shouting, what Allura had sternly told him in reply, not even what Shiro had said after he had dragged Keith outside. It was like what had happened between him and Allura in that room was an enormous explosion whose brilliance had eclipsed all else in his mind. He had spent all of his time since then in the training room trying to wrap his head around it.

He had never, even in his wildest dreams fantasized about Allura before. He had never thought of Allura that way. He knew she was beautiful, kind, strong, brave and altogether wonderful. To him that was just a fact. Like saying that Pidge was a genius or Shiro was a great leader.

Yet in some way, being kissed by Allura had felt like a dream come true. He hadn't known that he wanted that, wanted her. It was only now he was coming to the realization that he did. He had always wanted her in some way.

He still wanted to help her, be there for her, comfort her but he also wanted to hold her, feel her, _taste _her. And if Allura had, as Hunk said 'gave herself' to him, doesn't that mean she wanted him as well?

Maybe he could ask her to visit the market with him tomorrow. There was no harm in asking, after all.

A/N

Ah Keith, you lovable loner, you!

So YMMV but I always saw Keith as somewhat emotionally ignorant. He is instinctive and reckless so he reacts on the basis of emotion but he doesn't seem the type to spend time thinking about his feelings. It is implied in the voltron vlog that he actively avoids doing that. Which is why I think he isn't really aware of his feelings for Allura.

See, our perceptions of romance is generally coloured by our parents. I once read a blog where the writer admitted her preference for the childhood friends to lovers trope because that was her parents' story. Similarly, I have a soft spot for the perfectly arranged marriage trope for the same reason. Keith didn't have such an experience. He never saw his parents together and most likely didn't see his dad in any other romantic relationship either. He remained cut off from other people after his dad's death until Shiro. Now we don't know how much of Shiro's and Adam's relationship Keith was privy to and in any case it was too late by then as Keith was already a teenager.

What about all the other ways teenagers learn about romance? Movies, books, peers. I don't think Keith was the type to watch romantic movies or read romantic books. Did he have friends his own age at the Garrison? It doesn't seem like he did. Frankly Keith struck me as someone who focuses on one thing to the exclusion of all else. When he was in the pilot training programme that was probably all he thought about. Just like once he started trying to find whatever was calling to him in the desert he focused _all_ his energy on that.

All this to say that Keith is unlikely to ever come upon romance on his own. It took something as momentous as Allura kissing him for him to consider that he might have feelings for her. But of course he doesn't come to that conclusion on his own.

I did consider having Shiro be the one to have this conversation with Keith but ultimately I decided that it would be too awkward. Shiro is something of a surrogate big brother for Keith after all. It just didn't flow right with Shiro trying to educate Keith instead of allowing him to reach his own conclusions. Hunk was definitely the only other choice in my mind as I always saw Hunk and Lance as the most emotionally intelligent of the Paladins and for obvious reasons Lance cannot be the one to have this conversation with Keith.

I loved the development of Hunk and Keith's friendship throughout the series and I hope I did justice to them.

Next up: the Princess of Altea.


	3. 2 Princess Allura

Princess Allura was exhausted.

After another night of tossing and turning she could barely manage to get out of bed this morning but staying in was not an option. There was so much work that needed to be done. She had to reestablish all the connections forged through the Voltron coalition. Discover exactly where all the rebels were, and how they had handled the last three years without Votron. Figure out how the enormous war machine that is the Galra, was doing without a central commander. How many other generals like Sendak were out there and what were they doing? And what was Honerva up to? What exactly did she have in mind?

Hopefully once the Altean they had discovered in the wreckage woke up they will have a better idea of Honerva's intentions and a clearer picture of their future trajectory. In the meantime, all Allura could really do for her people was worry. And that was useless so she focused all her energies on doing everything she could to help the Garrison.

It was dinnertime and she had sent everyone else out to eat but she didn't really feel hungry. Her appetite had disappeared along with her sleep. If it weren't for Coran practically force feeding her she would be starving. She could sense that her friends were worried about her but she wasn't ready to deal with their questions nor address the huge hole she had dug herself into.

Allura sighed and closed her eyes as the memories of what happened two days ago came to mind as they always did the moment she was alone.

The meeting with the defected Galra soldiers had not gone perfectly but they had left with peaceful intentions. Acxa had been a great help, being a former member of the Galra military herself. Together, Allura and Keith had shown them that it was smarter to accept the alliance offered by the coalition rather than leave themselves easy prey without a sovereign. Allura believed their words had affected the Galra even if they had not responded positively.

After the delegates left, Keith and Acxa started conversing on the state of affairs in the Galra Empire. Allura left them to it. She busied herself inputting the information gained from the meeting into the Atlas database so that all the leaders would be able to see it if they wished. After the soft murmur of voices stopped she assumed the other two had left. That is until someone cleared their throat behind her. Surprised, she turned.

It was Keith.

"I'm sorry Allura," he said, "Rez'ak shouldn't have said that."

Allura immediately understood what he was talking about.

Some of the Galra who had sided with Lotor were furious to discover that Voltron had left him in the Quintessence field. They accused Allura of betraying the agreement that she had with the Emperor. She tried to explain what he had been doing with the Alteans and how it was Lotor's actions that led to the breakdown of their deal. Yet that wasn't reason enough for Rez'ac, one of Lotor's earliest supporters.

Rez'ac seemed to believe that Allura had simply been using Lotor for her own benefit. After all, Lotor had shared his mother's findings with her which Allura definitely benefited from. Furthermore, Lotor did save the Alteans, so what if he used a few for experiments. As their saviour it was his right. If not for him they wouldn't have survived at all.

There were a few tense moments then while Allura told herself that hitting the Galra male wouldn't help. It was Acxa who saved Rez'ac from being pummeled by informing them all of Lotor's ultimate aim: the destruction of all Galra. This helped them all to refocus on the reason for the meeting.

"It doesn't matter," Allura responded to Keith's apology. "You wouldn't have known he would say that." She turned back to the monitors as she continued, "In any case he wasn't completely wrong."

"What do you mean? Of course he was wrong."

She didn't turn back to him. She hoped he would leave. She really didn't want to talk about it.

Unfortunately, Keith didn't give up easily. "What happened to Lotor wasn't your fault Allura. Please tell me you know that."

"Whose fault is it then?" she burst out. "I was the one who got the keystone to work. It's because of me that we got into Oriande. And I used what I learned to help him. To create a ship that would allow him to travel into the Quintessence field."

"Allura, none of that makes it your fault." Keith moved to stand in front of her and placed his hands on her shoulders, "Lotor tricked you and used you. You're not to blame for that." He moved back then, turning slightly away from her, glancing at the ground. "You weren't even the only one; I believed him too." Then he lifted his head, looking straight at her as he said, "You had all wanted the war to end so badly, that when Lotor gave you a way to do that without fighting anymore, you accepted his offer with no questions asked. That was not a decision you took alone."

She couldn't hold back the words any longer. "Does that mean you don't blame me?"

"Of course I don't blame you, Allura."

"So you don't think it's my fault for 'cozying up to Lotor'." She couldn't help the bitter bite to her voice.

His expression showed that he remembered his own words. "No," he shook his head, "I never thought it was your fault, even for a moment. I just…" He sighed, crossing his arms. "I don't even know why I said all those things. I was going crazy and I said the things that I knew would hurt you the most. And I am sorry that I succeeded."

"I know you didn't mean it," Allura sighed. "It's just… sometimes…"

"What? You can tell me, Allura." He cleared his throat, glancing away. "That is, if you want to."

She looked at him. He was standing straight, his expression earnest and attentive. She knew he would listen without judgment to everything she said but she also knew if she decided not to speak he wouldn't push her either. Oddly, that was what helped her to voice all the doubts she had been harbouring.

"I would never accuse my father of being a coward," she began, looking at the monitor as she spoke, unable to meet Keith's gaze, "but I can't help but wonder sometimes whether he had done the right thing. Maybe… if he had tried to fight Zarkon with all the Lions or if he had stood up to him, instead of excusing him because of their friendship or maybe if he had stopped Honerva sooner… Maybe our people wouldn't have spent millennia being used as batteries, helpless and homeless without their King or their planet." She took a deep breath. "Or their Princess," she whispered.

"Don't think like that," Keith said. "Don't think about all the things your father didn't do. Think about all the things he did do. Ultimately he might've failed to save Altea but he saved _you_. That might be the most important thing he did."

Allura snorted, "Are you forgetting that my father created Voltron? I think that was more important."

"I don't," said Keith, "and I'm sure your father would agree with me. You were his child, for a parent there is nothing more important."

Allura laughed tearily. "Krolia tell you that?"

"Yes," he said, as he smiled, a little sadly. "I have no doubt that wherever your father is, he's proud of you Allura."

"Thanks Keith," Allura smiled.

"You're welcome." He paused, leaning against the counter. "There is no use worrying about the Alteans' past, there's nothing you can do to change it. Think of their future instead. Think about all the things you will do for them once we save them."

Allura took a deep breath, held it for a moment and then released it, almost feeling lighter, as if it was not just air that she released. "Once we save them."

"We will save them, Allura." He straightened, turning so that he faced her squarely. "All of us will help you. And I know they might not have their King or their planet but they do have an amazing Princess. She will lead them to a glorious future."

She hugged him then, unable to hold back. She hadn't hugged him since he left to join the Blades and he had grown since. He was slightly broader and she could now place her chin on his shoulder without scrunching down but his scent was the same and the warmth and security of his arms as comforting as always.

The Paladins all unanimously agreed that Hunk gave the best hugs but Allura had always had a secret preference for Keith's. She couldn't help but wonder why she had deprived herself of them. All the things she had been afraid of saying she had said and nothing bad had happened. Instead, she felt so much better for having said all that to him.

As she pulled away from the hug his eyes caught her. They were so warm. And full. And tender. And deep. And close. _So close_. They were beautiful and…she…just…

Allura scrubbed her hands over her face. '_I acted like an idiot is what I did. And Lance! How could I have forgotten Lance!'_

'_Because it's Keith,' _hermind answered,_ 'And when Keith is around you don't see Lance.'_

She sighed. She had thought she was over this. Over him. But one conversation was all it took for her to spill all her doubts and fears. It's not like the other Paladins had not all told her that what happened with Lotor wasn't her fault. But somehow she needed to hear it from him.

'_This is exactly what made it so hard to hate him before,' _she thought with annoyance. '_Well, that and those eyes.'_

"Um…Allura?"

Allura instantly straightened, placing a smile on her face as she turned to greet the newcomer.

"Pidge! Aren't you supposed to be at dinner right now?"

"Yeah," Pidge shrugged as she placed two trays on the counter and hopped up on one of the stools that were scattered around the room. "But Hunk was worried because this is the third night you're missing dinner and Coran volunteered to bring it to you but I knew you wanted to be alone so I suggested that I bring it instead, and here I am."

"Well, that was thoughtful of you."

"I guess, but really I just wanted to get away from Lance and his incessant whining."

Allura looked up from the food she had begun cutting into. "Lance? Whining?"

"Yeah," Pidge shot up, animatedly waving her fork, "He's constantly complaining about Keith. I mean really? Does it look like we care? I for one don't. And he's started up that ridiculous rivals thing again. I thought he'd gotten over that. Keith finally came out of the training room last night. If he keeps this up, Keith will stop ignoring him and start hitting back."

"Oh," Allura mumbled, fiddling with her food without putting it in her mouth, "I am sorry about that."

"Why are you saying sorry?" Pidge questioned, "It's not your fault boys are idiots."

"No, but well. You know…"

"No," Pidge said flatly, "I don't."

"I fought with Lance. The night before last. You were there. You saw it."

"Look, Allura," Pidge looked her straight in the eyes, "Whatever is going on between Lance and Keith is their problem, okay?"

"But–"

"No, just listen. This thing has been there from the beginning. You know that."

Allura tilted her head a little, indicating that she understood what Pidge was talking about.

"And maybe they've both matured a bit and we all hoped they put it behind them but… the fact that they are doing it again and by 'they' I mean Lance in this case, shows that he hasn't moved on from whatever his hang up with Keith is."

"I understand Pidge but I think I had a definite part to play in its resurgence, you must agree."

"Maybe, maybe not. Ultimately it's up to them to talk it out. You're not their therapist and they are not little kids in a schoolyard fight. They are Paladins of Voltron and they are better than this."

Allura nodded. Pidge was right. They _were_ better than this. Herself included. She was not going to hide like a little girl anymore. She was going to be honest with Lance the way she should have been from the beginning. And like Keith had told her, there was no use worrying about the past. It was the future that was important.

And with that she finally started eating; then had to stifle a moan because it was _sooo goooood_. She couldn't believe she went almost three days without putting any of Hunk's delicious concoctions in her mouth. Hunk always enjoyed getting her, Coran and Romelle to try new Earth foods but this was by far the best of his offerings. Or maybe she was just really hungry.

"What is this?"

"Like it?" Pidge grinned. "It's lasagna, my nana's recipe. Hunk got it from my Dad."

"It's amazing!"

"And lemon meringue pie for dessert. He made it yesterday but he saved a piece for you because you really seem to like pie."

Allura felt a lump rise in her throat. "He noticed?"

"Of course! Hunk's great at knowing when those he loves needs something. Why else do you think we're getting Nana's lasagna today? He knew I was down."

"You are?" Allura asked, concerned.

"Yeah," Pidge waved it off, "is no big deal."

"Well alright, but if you ever need to talk, know that I will lend you my ears, both of them in fact."

Pidge laughed. "It goes the other way around too, you know?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"I have working ears as well. So, if ever you feel like it's too much or you have some kind of problem, you know you can come to me, right? Or any of us really. We'll always have your back, Allura."

Allura looked at her, then down at the meal, the large slice of pie Hunk had set aside just for her. She thought of Coran's chatter and the mice's attempts at comfort. She thought of Shiro getting her some hot chocolate after he found her up after midnight again last night and Lance introducing her as a princess to his adorable niece and nephew. She thought of Keith telling her that her father would be proud of her. She even thought of Romelle, Krolia and Kosmo, the newest members of their strange little family. Her heart overflowed with the love she felt for them and that they returned.

"Yes, I know."

A/N

Oh Allura, my brave, beautiful princess.

So this chapter was more about Allura getting support from her friends rather than about her feelings for Keith. I think Allura knows and accepts that she has feelings for him whereas Keith is oblivious and needed things spelled out for him.

I think the paladins and that group of people they consider family would share at least one meal a day. Mainly because they got used to having meals together and they don't want to share that with anyone else.

If Pidge seemed out of character when she started complaining about Lance to Allura just imagine that Lance has been lamenting his unrequited love for another girl to Pidge all day. I think she's justified in her frustrations.

Allura loves and idolizes her father, its true but in the first episode itself her father's hologram told her that she was right and he was wrong. She tries to ignore that fact and insists on showing Alfor as practically perfect, but as time went by, as she matured and made mistakes herself the fact that her father wasn't perfect will start to haunt her. She also has a habit of blaming herself and Keith's words during his space madness wouldn't help. She knows he didn't mean it, that he was just going mad but his words would still affect her. I think this was something they needed to talk about.

So, this might be an unpopular opinion, but I don't think Allura ever really had romantic feelings for Lance. This is how I read the show. Let's take the example of the one other romantic relationship that actually developed on screen: Lotor and Allura. Now I feel Lotura was done well. It was set up early on and they followed through with that connection. I realized Lotor and Allura were most likely going to have an important relationship when Allura was comforting him after he killed his father. It was intimate and personal and Lotura continued to follow that pattern. Deep, intimate, personal conversations where they are open about their vulnerabilities. Lotor opened up to Allura in a way that he didn't with anyone else. The other way their romantic relationship was broadcast was through their physical closeness. We see them repeatedly standing next to each other.

This is not how Allurance was done. I only realized Lance had actual feelings for Allura instead of just a superfluous crush when he told the mice about it. We have to be _told_ about Lance's feelings for Allura instead of it being shown. What is shown are over-exaggerated shows of jealousy and an almost childish sense of entitlement. The same is true from Allura's side. We are _told_ that Allura likes Lance by Veronica, Lance's sister, who has known Allura at that point, for a week at most and who hadn't been there while their relationship was developing. Furthermore, Allura acting blushy and shy is the reason for Veronica's pronouncement even though she was never shy with Lotor, rather she was upfront and open. I don't know why there is such a dramatic difference in the way the two relationships were written. Were the writers trying to make Allurance look more real in comparison to Lotura? If that was their objective they failed. All it did was make Allurance look shallow and fake.

Now there is another pair who have a similar relationship set up to Lotura and that is Keith and Allura. The first time I realized Keith and Allura might be a thing was in the Arc of Taujeer episode. And yeah the space dance was what made me board the ship but before that we see them having a serious conversation about the war and Galra and whether it is right to judge them all equally. In a similar fashion to Lotura they have serious, deep conversations. And Allura allows herself to be vulnerable in front of him many times. And the physical proximity. They are always standing next to each other, even in season 7.

So the way I see it: Allura had feelings for Keith. She was aware of said feelings. If you look at that scene in ep1 of se4 where she tells him that Voltron needs him more than the Blades do, the careful way she chooses her words suggests that she's trying not to tip her hand but she's also desperate for Keith to stay. It hurt her when he ended up leaving permanently. And I think at first she and the others kept in constant contact with him but then his missions got longer and more secretive and they got used to going long periods without seeing him. That's when Lotor came into the scene. And I do think Lotor did specifically lay on the charm, more because he needed her than to seduce her or anything. I believe Allura's feelings for Lotor were sincere. He was not a replacement for Keith, especially when you consider how different they are. Though the fact that Lotor got so close to her during Keith's absence is suspect. And also Allura definitely has a type: pretty, long haired, half-Galra.

Then Lotor broke her heart, horribly. She was wary of trusting her own judgment after that because she had been so horrifically wrong. Lance was easy. Lance wouldn't leave on random, life endangering missions and Lance wouldn't betray her. Lance was not a question because she already knew his feelings. She knew she was important to him more than the mission whatever that mission maybe. For in this Keith and Lotor were similar. Whatever their feelings for her are, it wouldn't come in the way of them doing what they felt must be done. Of course Lotor definitely had a longer morality chain.

So by the time season seven is happening she has decided to fall for Lance. She was trying to get her mind to influence her emotions. You _can_ choose to love someone after all, that's how arranged marriages work and maybe Altean royalty is aware of that. But then she faces a roadblock because she never really got over Keith. Distance and another guy happened but she never actually moved on from him. So she avoids him. But the thing is, Keith is also a dear friend whom she enjoys talking to and he's a comfort to her when she's down. So by avoiding him she's avoiding a whole gamut of feelings she doesn't want to deal with until finally the dam holding her emotions back can't bear it anymore and she loses control.

And that's what happened.

Next up: Lover-boy Lance himself.


End file.
